Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, instructor permission required.

This course will deal with those texts of the Middle Kingdom that are written in the classical form of the language. It will include both monumental inscriptions, such as autobiographical stela inscriptions (P. Newberry, BENI HASSAN) and stelae (Seth, LESESTUCKE) as well as narratives in prose (DeBuck, READING BOOK). Religious texts (ibid. and COFFIN TEXTS) will also be studied and analyzed. Distinctions between the grammar of the literary and non-literary genres will be discussed.

This course is an introduction to the language of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The grammar of the period will be introduced during the early part of the semester, using Ededl's ALTAGYPTISCHE GRAMMATIK as the basic reference. Other grammatical studies to be utilized will include works by Allen, Baer, Polotsky, Satzinger, Gilula, Doret, and Silverman. The majority of time in the course will be devoted to reading varied textual material: the unpublished inscriptions in the tomb of the Old Kingdom offical Kapure--on view in the collection of the University Museum; several autobiographical inscriptions as recorded by Sethe in URKUNDEN I; and a letter in hieratic (Baer, ZAS 93, 1966, 1-9).

Introduction to the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts. Prerequisite: If course requirement not met, instructor permission required.

This self-contained course sets the Sumerian language, writing system and use of writing in their social and historical context. The aim is to provide students of ancient history and culture from diverse disciplines with a good grounding in Sumerian culture, familiarity with the Sumerian language and cuneiform writing system and the requisite knowledge for critical assessment of published translations and of the secondary literature. The course is organized as two threads, culture on the one hand and language on the other. The two threads are united by taking examples in the language exercises, vocabulary assignments, etc., as far as possible from the domain of the week' cultural topics. The net effect is to examine the culture both through contemporary secondary literature and through direct contact with elementary primary texts of relevance to the various topics of discussion. The language component of the course will be carried out in a combination of transliteration and cuneiform, with an expectation that all students will gain familiarity with at least the core 80 syllabic signs, and about 100 additional logographic signs.

Taught by: Tinney

Course not offered every year

Activity: Lecture

1.0 Course Unit

ANEL 647 Sumerian Daily Texts

Taught by: Tinney

Course not offered every year

Activity: Seminar

1.0 Course Unit

ANEL 664 Coptic

The course will be an introduction to the writing, grammar, and literature of Coptic.

Taught by: Silverman

Course not offered every year

Also Offered As: RELS 616

Activity: Lecture

1.0 Course Unit

ANEL 665 Demotic

The course will be an introduction to the writing, grammar, and literature of Demotic, the phase of the language in use during the latter periods of Egyptian history.

Taught by: Houser Wegner

Course not offered every year

Activity: Lecture

1.0 Course Unit

ANEL 740 Akkadian Religious and Scientific Texts

Readings in Akkadian of religious and scientific texts from ancient Mesopotamia.